Yarn package adapter



March 9, 1965 R. R. STEWART, JR

YARN PACKAGE ADAPTER Filed Feb. 8, 1963 United States Patent C) "ice 3,172,618 YARN PACKAGE ADAPTER Rodney R. Stewart, Jr., P1). Box 431, Gastonia, N.C. Filed Feb. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 257,154 3 Claims. (Cl. 242-130) This invention relates to a holder for textile yarn packages and, in particular, to a holder designed to accommodate yarn packages having varying diameters and lengths. Holders of the type described herein can be used separately or adapted for use in creels wherein large numbers of yarn packages are supported adjacent one another for providing a multiplicity of ends of yarn. The adapter is suitable for holding yarn packages when they are used by knitting or weaving machines. Conventional yarn holders are cylindrical pieces `of wood or the like, centrally bored out, which can be slipped over rods of corresponding diameter and secured in place by means of a nut threaded onto the end of the rod. Such yarn holders are necessarily of a single diameter and of a xed length and are not well adapted to hold yarn packages of dierent diameters or of significantly different lengths. Thus, it has been conventional in the art to provide yarn package holders in many diierent sizes and lengths, and to change these holders in order to accommodate different packages of corresponding sizes. This in turn has required the textile mills to maintain large inventories of yarn package holders, to provide storage space for those not in use, and to provide an index or referencing system for properly locating the sizes required.

It is an object of this invention to overcome the disadvantages referred to above by providing a yarn package holder which yis adaptable to various yarn package sizes. A further object of this invention is to provide an adjustable lor accommodating yarn package holder, the effected diameter of which lcan be adjusted without removing it from the creel or supporting member. Further, it is another object of this invention to provide a package holder which is inexpensive to construct and demands little or no maintenance. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent hereinafter.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation, showing the yarn package in section, illustrating a speciic embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the yarn package adapter appearing in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the adapter shown in FIG. 1 together with a helical garter spring adapted to t on the adapter.

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation, similar to that of FIG. l, illustrating another embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is an end view of the yarn package adapter appearing in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a perspective View of the `adapter hsown in FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the adapter shown in FIG. 4, together with a helical garter spring adapted therefor.

Turning now to the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration in FIG. 1 of the drawings, the

number 10 designates a support rod which is attached to a iixed portion of a creel (not shown) or the like. Although the support rod fr0 is shown in FIG. 1 in generally a horizontal position, it is understood that the arm and the adapter may be positioned at any angle so as to accommodate the feeding of yarn from the yarn package. It is also pointed out that the support arm 10 can be mounted stationary as shown or can be mounted so that it will rotate While yarn is drawn.

The embodiment of the yarn package adapte-r shown in FIG. 1, designated generally by the number 12, has a Patented Mar. 9, 1965 generally conical body portion 14 with a longitudinal axis coinciding with that of the support rod 10. At one end, the adapter has a plurality of generally curved grooves 15 each extending 360 degrees around the cone and positioned perpendicular to its axis. As shown, the grooves are equally spaced along the tapered surface of the cone and have progressively increasing diameters as measured from the axis of the body portion.

The yarn package, generally designated by the numeral 20, consists of the yarn 21 wrapped around a cardboard core 22 which is usually cylindrical in shape. The yarn package comes in various lengths with various core or bore diameters and a second yarn package 25, shown in dash-dot lines in FIG. 1, has a core of smaller diameter.

As shown also in FIGS. 2 and 3, a helical garter spring Si) having a smaller inside diameter, in the relaxed state, than the diameter of the smallest groove 15, is placed upon the body portion 14 within one of the grooves 1S. The spring 30 can easily be rolled or snapped from one groove to another ascending from the smallest groove to one of the larger ones. As shown in FIG. l, spring 30 has been positioned on the largest groove and, as such, is in the correct position to accommodate the large diameter yarn package 20. As seen in this ligure, end 22a of the core ts tightly around the tapered conical body portion at a point near the base of that portion. The yarn package is held at a second point where spring 30 presses against the inner Surfaces of core 22 as shown. When a yarn package of smaller diameter, such as package 25 also shown in FIG. l, is inserted on the adapter, conical spring 30 is moved to a groove 15 having a lesser diameter and the yarn package is held thereby. FIG. 2 shows the yarn package as fully inserted on the adapter from the end view.

Another embodiment of the invention selected for illustration in the drawings is that shown in FIGS. 4 through 6. The adapter, designated generally by the number 40, has a substantially cylindrical body portion 42, a cylindrical shoulder portion 44, and a number of curved grooves 46, each extending 360 degrees around the body portion and positioned perpendicular to its axis. As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the grooves 46, placed at different positions along the body portion, have varying diameters so that the helical garter spring 4S can be expanded to different effective diameters as desired. The inside diameter of spring 48 in the relaxed condition is less than the diameter of the smallest groove.

As shown in FIG. 4, a large diameter yarn package 56 is placed on large diameter shoulder 44a at one end and is held in position by the spring 48 placed in a groove as shown'. When a smler diameter yarn package 52, shown in dot-dash lines is placed upon this form of the adapter, the spring 4S is placed within a groove having a smaller diameter. Yarn package 52, is held on the adapter by shoulder 44b at one end, and the extended spring 48 at the other end. FIG. 5 shows the yarn package on the adapter as seen from the unsupported end of the adapter.

It is apparent that the selection of a particular annular groove, the placing of the helical spring, together with selection of -a cylindrical shoulder, provides inI this embodiment of the yarn package adapter means for accommodating a large variety of yarn packages having varying diameters and lengths.

It will be appreciated that it is unnecessary to remove the adapter from the supporting arm or creel when changing from one size yarn package to another. In most cases it is suiiicient simply to place the spring in a groove having the correct diameter and litting the yarn package upon the appropriate shoulder. On other occasions, a larger diameter spring can be used with the same adapter thereby accommodating other shapes and sizes of yarn packages.

Although this invention has been shown and described with reference to two specic forms thereof, it will be appreciated that many variations and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this invention. For example, parts may be reversed, equivalents may be substituted, and certain features of the invention may be used independentlyof other features all Without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. A yarn package holder having means for supporting `in operative position any of a variety of yarn packages having bores of varying diameters, said holder comprising a substantially cylindrically shaped body supported at one end along its longitudinal axis, said body having a series of shoulders of progressively varying diameter, each of said shoulders providing an annular supporting surface of different diameter for a yarn package of particular size bore, said body also having a series of annular grooves extending completely around the body adjacent the distal end, said grooves progressively varying in diameter,

a helical garter spring having an unexpanded internal diameter smaller than that of the smallest groove whereby the outer annular surface of the expanded spring mounted Within a particular groove adjacent the distal end of the body cooperates with the an- L nular surface of a similar diameter shoulder at the supported end of the body to support a yarn package by tting within the bore of the package adjacent both ends thereof.

2. The yarn package holder as defined in claim 1 wherein the series of shoulders are formed on the body in progression from that of the largest diameter adjacent the supported end of the body to that of the smallest diameter toward the distal end, and

the series of annular grooves are formed on the body in progression from that of the largest diameter adjacent the :center of the body to that of the smallest diameter adjacent the distal end.

3. The yarn package holder as dened in claim 1 wherein a single annular groove is formed in the body adjacent the smallest diameter shoulder, said groove accommodating a helical spring which outer annular surface differs in diameter from and complements the annular surfaces of varying diameters formed by the series of shoulders'.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,884,805 Moritz Oct. 25, 1932 2,042,968 SiegenthalerY June 2, 1936 2,704,643 Lambach Mar. 22, 1955 

1. A YARN PACKAGE HOLDER HAVING MEANS FOR SUPPORTING IN OPERATIVE POSITION ANY OF A VARIETY OF YARN PACKAGES HAVING BORES OF VARYING DIAMETERS, SAID HOLDER COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICALLY SHAPED BODY SUPPORTED AT ONE END ALONG ITS LONGITUDINALLY AXIS, SAID BODY HAVING A SERIES OF SHOULDERS OF PROGRESSIVELY VARYING DIAMETER, EACH OF SAID SHOULDERS PROVIDING AN ANNULAR SUPPORTING SURFACE OF DIFFERENT DIAMETER FOR A YARN PACKAGING OF PARTICULAR SIZE BORE, SAID BODY ALSO HAVING A SERIES OF ANNULAR GROOVES EXTENDING COMPLETELY AROUND THE BODY ADJACENT THE DISTAL END, SAID GROOVES PROGRESSIVELY VARYING IN DIAMETER, A HELICAL GARTER SPRING HAVING AN UNEXPANDED INTERNAL DIAMETER SMALLER THAN THAT OF THE SMALLEST GROOVE WHEREBY THE OUTER ANNULAR SURFACE OF THE EXPANDED SPRING MOUNTED WITHIN A PARTICULAR GROOVE ADJACENT THE DISTAL END OF THE BODY COOPERATES WITH THE ANNULAR SURFACE OF A SIMILAR DIAMETER SHOULDER AT THE SUPPORTED END OF THE BODY TO SUPPORT A YARN PACKAGE BY FITTING WITHIN THE BORE OF THE PACKAGE ADJACENT BOTH ENDS THEREOF. 